Both contenders are airing spots intended to address perceived vulnerabilities.
Texas’s Senate race has been inundated with bitter character attacks against the two candidates. Both addressed them in competing ads Friday morning.
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State Rep. James Talarico (D) launched a new ad seeking to debunk right-wing claims about his stances in a direct-to-camera address. He criticizes his Republican opponent, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, for using AI-generated videos “lying about my record.”
“No, I’m not a member of the Chinese Communist Party. No, I don’t support sex-change surgeries for kids,” Talarico says. “I don’t have to use AI because the truth about Ken Paxton is bad enough.”
Republicans hammered Democrats in 2024 on claims that they supported gender transitions for minors, a strategy numerous Republicans said helped them sweep races that year. Democrats largely ignored the attacks but now acknowledge doing so was a mistake.
Paxton also unveiled an ad Friday trying to address his numerous corruption and personal scandals, which are documented in legal filings. Rather than rebut them, Paxton uses footage of his daughter Mattie Hayworth praising him as a fighter for family values and role model for his grandchildren.
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“My dad has never backed down from a fight, especially when it comes to standing up for families,” she says in the ad.
The ad appears to recycle footage used in a similar campaign ad during the primary, when Paxton faced a more than $90 million effort defending incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R).
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